Community

The opening of the ever-popular ice ring on the Plains of Abraham had to be delayed for several days in December but it was ready to welcome skaters in time for the holidays. The “après-skate” deck is larger this year, and a new fireplace and several heaters have been added, as well as more chairs.

After months of meetings, weeks of recruiting volunteers and collecting food and monetary donations, plus days of sorting and packing, members of the English-speaking community of the Quebec City area delivered Christmas hampers (boxes of groceries and vouchers) to 205 households on Dec. 15.

The Ice: During Saturday night and Sunday morning large quantities of new ice formed into a batture, which now extends over a hundred feet from the wharves in the Lower Town. This early forming of a solid batture is a sure indication of an ice-bridge.

It’s a nice time to make ice. Recent cold weather has allowed crews to get to work flooding the dozens of outdoor rinks throughout the city. This one is at the Parc du Musée. On the nearby Plains of Abraham, the large oval made with refrigerated ice started welcoming skaters last week.

The current Sino-Canadian diplomatic crisis is serious and the stakes are extremely high. At the heart of the matter is national security. Huawei, a Chinese tele-communications behemoth with 180,000 employees worldwide and nearly $100 billion in revenue, is in the United States’ crosshairs and Canada is being forced to pull the trigger.

Rue Christmas is named in honour of the annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on Dec. 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. It is a time for love, gift giving and family gatherings.

We asked several well-known people in Quebec City how they would answer the question “What do YOU want for Christmas?” After the usual “Peace on Earth, health, and happiness” replies, here’s what they had to say: